Opposition People’s Alliance for Change (PAC) President Andyford Banda has urged the PF government to come up with an alternative trading place for street venders it has removed from the streets.
In a statement, Mr Banda said his party commends President Edgar Lungu for taking the lead in cleaning the city of Lusaka to avert further escalation of the cholera outbreak.
“We have always said that the Mayor has not done enough to come up with sustainable initiatives and partnerships to clean up the city of Lusaka. Most of these initiatives do not necessarily need to have money as the mayor can solicit the support of various stake holders especially with the number of companies operating in Lusaka’s CBD,” Mr Banda said.
“We hope the mayor of Lusaka wakes up and smells the coffee. He needs to engage various stakeholders in order to ensure that the initiatives succeed.”
“However, when it come to the traders who have been chased and have had their structures demolished, we would like to urge the PF government to come up with a plan B as this situation was caused by them. The erection of illegal trading posts started immediately after the PF won the 2011 elections. We all remember the Donchi Kubeba market in Kamwala that spread to Lumumba, Freedom Way and Chachacha Roads.”
He added,”Because of their misplaced methods of wanting to remain popular, the PF government turned a blind eye to the spiraling negative consequences and the traders became entrenched in this as their source of livelihood.”
Mr Banda said, “In as much as we commend the initiatives to clean the city, we also urge the government to think about a sustainable plan for the people who were trading there. This problem did not start yesterday, it has been with us for years. Therefore, the PF Government can’t just unceremoniously chase citizens who have been trading there without thinking of how the displaced traders will feed their families and will send their children to school.”
“On our part as PAC, we have consistently urged the PF government to come up sustainable empowerment programs that can benefit all Zambians regardless of their political affiliation. What our nation needs are long term plans and a system that empowers all Zambians, not just short term plans convenient for elections.”
He said believes that Zambia needs more statesmen and fewer politicians adding that Politicians prepare for the next general elections; whereas statesmen prepare for the next generation.
How many times have these vendors been given alternative trading space only for them to abandon it and get back to the streets..
Yes Banda is right ,the PF caused the cholera by allowing street vending just to gain votes.New York mayor would be disqualified from office by the ethics committee the minute he approves filthy street vending ,but alas rule of law is not Zambia’s strict style.
That why street vending will never end because opposition parties see it as a campaigning tool.This makes a ruling party ignore them and let them continue with making Lusaka as a garbage city!!Please all opposition parties must support the ruling party to curb careless trading in roads.Surely how do you allow meat, fish, beer be sold in the streets?The cause: opposition parties who oppose anything, including the rebasing of the Kwacha, relocation of street vendors, etc(end of thinking Capacity)!!!!
Yes Enka ,an ethics committee is most welcome idea to make sure politicians don’t endanger public health again by putting their selfish political interests ahead of greater national interests.Zambia is greater than MCS or ECL and certainly greater than any party’s interests.
Fyi just recently Alabama governor was removed by an ethics committee for abusing office to gain private favors -Zambia needs that sort of thing.
Pa zed ethics committee would be run by yes Bwana cadres. And we are back where we started
What ethics committee? You will hear that the committee will have “to nominated by Parliament and be appointed by the President”. And we lose it from that point onwards.
We must divorce narrow politics from greater public interests.We either say no to dirty vendors & crooked politicians or failure to that we’re saying yes to cholera and death.
You speak so well but lacking suggestions which we as citizens can analyse for credibility and that can earn you marks or indeed not. Just holding press briefs and expecting the masses to guess what plan B is is not good enough. No wonder we always say the opposition have nothing to offer. BANDA please tell us the plan B.
more like wake up and smell the garbage.
Mr. Banda please get factual. The street vendors were to be chased as far back as 1990. When even Silvia Masebo was then a councilor, Wynter Kabimba town clerk. The council gave notice for vendors to leave the streets. At the end of that notice the council police and the regular police stormed the make shift stands and all the illegal street vendors were chased. FTJ the then president threw a fit he threatened to disband the council and said the people on the streets where ‘his’ people. They became soooo cheeky and began to call themselves OP(SD), Office of the President (Street Division). From then on even a vendors desk at state house was set up. So please get the facts before you mislead your followers if any.
That is a loooooong time ago. You are talking of a time when the ecnomic liberalisation was taking its toll, when prunning was one of the measures under SAP. Lusaka then came ti be known as tuntemba city.
But the vendors were removed under Mwanawasa or Banda, only to be given express and unlimited access under PF. Of course the rationale was UNEMPLOYMENT in the country. Why do we have thousands of people in this informal business? There are no industries to absorb some of them.
The Lusaka city council should establish a garbage collection department right in the heart of the central business area. This department should be given enough vehicles (canters) in order to carry out its operations.
history should be factual
It is not that the vendors don’t have where to go the thing is that most of the shops are occupied by foreigners Indians and Chinese. In steady of them taking part in meaningful investment they are running ituntemba selling shoes and sugar the business which should be run by Zambians. If all these are chased Zambians will have enough space to trade from and stop competing with refugees